Abstract

New research by Mercator Advisory Group profiles nine bill payment
processors

Boston, MA -- Walk-in bill payments provide an option for people who
need to make payments but cannot or choose not to do so with an electronic
means of payment or a check. Typically, these customers visit a retail
location, kiosk, or biller's office to make a payment using cash. While other
forms of payments are sometimes accepted, the most common form of payment is
cash.

Mercator Advisory Group's new report, Third-Party Walk-In Bill Payments in
the United States, focuses on payments made where the payer physically
visits an agent location, such as a check casher, customer service desk in a
grocery store, or kiosk to make a payment primarily by cash or check. It
describes the market opportunity and the business model for walk-in bill
payments and provides brief profiles of several major and emerging service
providers.

The report covers third-party providers of these services. It does not include
walk-in bill payments made directly at a biller's offices, money orders,
online bill payments, or automatic bill payments. While this report notes
where the major providers have significant overseas presence, it concentrates
on the walk-in bill payment market in the United States.

"The future of walk-in bill payments is caught up in the tension between a
number of conflicting trends," says Ben Jackson, senior analyst and author
of the report. "Some of them seem to indicate that the business is likely
to grow, while others would seem to indicate that walk-in bill payments will
fade over time."

The report discusses these trends and covers possibilities and opportunities
for financial institutions and other financial services companies.

Highlights of the research findings include:

The benefits of walk-in bill payments for billers and some states

The entities that offer walk-in bill payments

New delivery channels for third-party walk-in bill payments

A review of the business model for third-party bill payments

The regulations third-party processors are subject to, at both the federal
and state level